Prepare these delicious lunch recipes for your kids!

Back to school is fast approaching and if you’ve been concerned with the quality of the food your kids eat at school, you’re not the only one.

Countless parents are now packing healthier lunch options for their kids in the hopes of providing them with all the nutrients their growing bodies and brain need and also as a way of controlling the obesity epidemic sweeping the

U.S.
Organizing lunches for your kids can seem like such a daunting task, but with a little bit of preparation and some really great recipes, you can turn some fantastic and tasty recipes in no time.

I hope you had a chance to read our latest review on kitchen gadgets that can make your life and your back to school baking a breeze and if you’ve not a chance yet, please click on the following links:

Kitchen Aid Stand Mixer: K45SS Classic White Review

It might be September, but offering your kids a nice treat after school is such a great gesture, homemade ice cream is the solution.

These posts should help you choose the right ice cream maker for your home:
How to Buy an Ice Cream Maker: Cuisinart ICE-30BC Pure Indulgence Review

I love homemade ice cream so much

Hugs in exchange for a yummy lunch box

>>> Back to school baking recipes for your kids’ lunch box

These recipes should really help you plan out your lunches for a few weeks and get your kids off on the right foot:

1) Easy back-to-school breakfasts you can grab and go

2) 15 minutes to a healthy breakfast

3) Apricot-Walnut Cereal Bars

4) Lemon-Raspberry Muffins

5) Southwestern Omelet Wrap

6) Low-Fat Granola Bars

7) Ham & Pepper Roll-Ups

These days, I work out my core with exercises that are inspired from Pilates and yoga. I also do a number of core exercises on the floor, the bench and I even do one with the cable machine (this one can easily be done with an exercise elastic band as well).

Also, when I do any type of exercise, I make a point of contracting my abs and holding my core as steady and strong as possible, so I’m basically working my abs along the way and not waiting until the end of my workout to sit on a mat and do 500 sit-ups.

Every year, there is a new batch of ab machines that hits the late night air waves (aka late night  infomercials that I like watching so much) and the market to lure couch potatoes in changing their ways.

As I was channel surfing (late one night), I saw an advert for the Ab Coaster. You should have seen my face because the minute I knew what this was all about, I was already rolling my eyes.

Wait a minute, I’m mistaken, I didn’t see the Ab Coaster for the first time on an infomercial, but rather on the Shopping Channel. From what I could see, the Ab Coaster is a fairly big machine and I don’t think you can fold it and hide it anywhere in your home. The whole point of the Ab Coaster is to help you perform assisted leg-pull-ups (where you pull your legs to your chest to create a crunch effect). I see really strong guys doing this exercise unassisted at the gym by gripping the top of the cable machine and lifting their legs to their chest while swinging in mid air. I’ve even seen many guys add up to 90 lbs of weight (they grip the weight with their feet) and do those types of leg-pull-ups and I can assure you it does NOT look easy.

I guess, the manufacturer of the Ab Coaster thought they would be offering the same benefits.

Now, my problem with this machine and pretty much every home-exercise-machine that I’ve ever seen (other than the Boxflex which is on a totally different planet of effectiveness) is that none of them take into consideration two important things: 1) boredom from performing the same-old-same-old exercise rain or shine 2) lack of muscle confusion. When you keep doing the same exercise, you will see results early in the game, but will quickly plateau as your body gets comfortable with the movements.

To be fair to the manufacturer, I’ve not tried their Ab Coaster machine, but at $349 CAD/$399 US (you’ll be paying 4 payments of $99.95), it begs the question:

“Will the Ab Coaster really deliver results or will this be yet another exercise machine that ends up in your garage?”

I’ve done a few searches on YouTube and found videos or a number of people who seem to be suggesting that they are getting good results from their Ab Coaster machine.

I’d love to know if any of my readers have had such great results. If you’ve tried the Ab Coaster, don’t be shy in leaving a comment below!

You might also want to read what I think of the Slender Shaper: Slender Shaper fat burner and muscle building machine

Here are a few Ab Coaster videos you might find interesting:

Ab Coaster promotional video:

Ab Coaster how-to videos:

Ab Coaster how-to videos – more exercises:

Ab Coaster review done by a woman:

Paul’s consumer review part 1:

Paul’s consumer review part 2:

Summer is coming, summer is coming, summer is FINALLY coming!!!

That means we can go to the beach again, wear tight fitting clothes and maybe reveal a little more skin than we might during those brutal winter months.

I think that most of us women (and so many men) have issues with their abs and most everyone one wants nice sexy flat abs (maybe a 6-pack abs for men). That said, no one that I know willingly likes to do sit ups or crunches because they are quite boring exercises.

Bender Ball is a new workout that is taking the boring out of abs workout by helping you sculpt your abs fast (it makes sense that you’ll need to have an overall fitness regime and you’ll need to cut out junk food to see results).

The Bender Ball Flat Abs Training Kit:

This revolutionary exercise stability ball is 408% more effective than ordinary crunches. It targets the muscles you want from all sides for fast results!

Each Flat Abs Training Kit includes:
– 1 Bender Ball
– The Bender Ball Method Manual
– Leslie Bender Ball’s amazing workout DVD

There is even an added bonus: you’ll also get a FREE bonus Buns & Thighs video!

This offer is once again only open to US and Canadian residents. You’ll find more details here: Bender Ball Core Training

http://www.lynxtrack.com/afclick.php?o=8765&b=fs7bpc0y&p=21571&l=1

2. Don’t bother with dieting, for weight loss diets often result in weight gain in the long term! Your body needs a regular supply of good nutrients in order to function, and it is therefore important to eat wholesome foods regularly including fruit, vegetables, salads, nuts, seeds, grains, milk, cheese, eggs, soya, poultry, fish and some red meat. As an added bonus finding the right diet for you will also help to maintain your optimum weight.

3. Plan your meals for the coming week in advance, including breakfast, which is the most important meal of the day. Make a shopping list before you go out and take the list with you – making sure you stick to it! And, never do your food shopping on an empty stomach for you will be far more likely to make impulse purchases.
4. Eat regular meals three times each day with one or two between -meal snacks. It is better to eat four or five small meals each day, than guzzle large meals because you are so hungry. The body needs a constant supply of good nutrients from wholesome food in order to serve you well. This is particularly true for women in the week before their period, when their calorie requirements raise by approximately 500 calories per day.

5. Rather than shopping once a week for all your food, it is preferable to shop at least twice each week, especially for fruit, vegetables and salad stuff, as the shelf life of the vitamins and minerals in them is quite short. Make sure you store fresh produce in the refrigerator or somewhere very cool, to prevent them from spoiling.

6. Chocolate bars and sweets may seem attractive snacks, but they contain very little good nutrients and will send your blood sugar levels soaring, only to crash again shortly after. Instead chose wholesome snacks like fresh fruit, nuts and seeds, dried fruit, or fruit and nut snack bars, cereal bars, or even strips of dried fruit, which are more likely to supply your body with many of the nutrients in needs in order to function well.

7. Never skip a meal, as it will play havoc with your blood glucose levels and leave you feeling tired and light headed. In order to look and feel good you need to eat wholesome food regularly. If you are likely to be on the run at lunch time, take some lunch with you, and always have a snack bar and some fruit with you in your bag, in case you get the munchies.

8. You may notice that certain foods seem to make you feel bloated or result in a rapid drop in energy or even a headache. Keep an eye on how you feel after eating and if you are suspicious about the effects that certain types of food have on your body, keep a daily diet diary and mark down the symptoms you are experiencing. After a few weeks, when you review your diary it is likely that you will see a pattern emerging which will make it easier to spot the suspect foods.

9. Cravings for food, particularly sweet food, like chocolate, cakes and biscuits, are extremely common, especially in the week before your period is due. Eat wholesome food little and often in order to maintain a constant supply of good nutrients. The minerals chromium and magnesium and B vitamins are all necessary for normal blood glucose control. Make a point of consuming plenty of green leafy vegetables, nuts and seeds, bell peppers, chicken, rye, oats and black pepper.

10. An excellent way of speeding up the metabolic rate, which helps to burn fat, is to exercise four or five times each week to the point of breathlessness. You can chose any exercise you like, from brisk walking, a formal workout, swimming, racquet sports or even just dancing to your favourite music. Apart from helping to burn up the fat and tone your body, regular exercise results in an incredible sense of well-being and as an added bonus promotes long-term health and beauty.

11. Alcohol knocks most important nutrients sideways, leaving us feeling depleted. A lack of good nutrients will affect your energy levels as well as the appearance of your skin and your eyes. Big alcohol consumers are putting themselves seriously at risk of all manner of nasty medical problems in the long-term, so forget the binges and think twice before you have more than one or two drinks in one sitting.

12. Caffeine, which acts as both a physical and mental stimulant, can be found in tea, coffee, cola drinks and chocolate, in excess can make you feel anxious, aggravate breast tenderness and prevent you sleeping well at night. It is therefore advisable to look for alternatives, to tea and coffee like herbal teas, coffee substitutes, and sparkling fruit drinks, all of which are now available in the supermarkets.

13. Making time for yourself is probably one of the most important long-term resolutions you should be considering. Somehow when we are feeling and looking good, we forget how important healthy eating, exercise and relaxation are. If you lead a hectic life make sure you have time to enjoy your food and write your exercise and relaxation time into your diary like any other appointment. This way you stand a good chance of keeping your body in peak condition, with your looks positively glowing.

Taken from the Model Plan by Maryon Stewart who was the nutritionist for the Channel 4 TV programme Model Behaviour

www.nalturalhealthas.com